Healthcare providers' caring: Nothing is too small for parents and children hospitalized for heart surgery.

BACKGROUND: Parents of children with congenial heart disease (CHD) face frequent healthcare encounters due to their child's care trajectory. With an emphasis on assuring caring in healthcare, it is necessary to understand parents' perceptions of healthcare providers' actions when their child undergoes heart surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To describe parents' perceptions of healthcare providers' actions when their child is diagnosed with CHD and undergoes heart surgery.

METHODS: This is a qualitative study with in-depth interviews. Parents of children with CHD were interviewed twice after surgery. We analyzed data using directed content analysis guided by Swanson Caring Theory.

RESULTS: Findings of the study indicate that parents perceive caring when providers seek to understand them (knowing); accompany them physically and emotionally (being with); help them (doing for); support them to be the best parents they can be (enabling); and trust them to care for their child (maintaining belief).

CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare providers play an irreplaceable role in alleviating parents' emotional toll when their child undergoes cardiac surgery. Providers' caring is an integral component in healthcare.